Persuasive Essay On Celebrateing Australia Day

Imagine if you were unable to celebrate one of Australia’s most patriotic days. If instead of celebrating with family and friends in the most traditional and nationalistic ways possible, day bought you sorrow and grief, because of what was taken away from you and your people on that day. Your history, your tradition, your culture, your own people. Shouldn’t you be able to celebrate Australia Day like white Australia does, without the ramifications of the past? Countless Indigenous peoples are still recovering from the chain of events that were set in motion on that day in 1788. Myself and many other Australians agree that the date of Australia Day should be changed from the 26th of January, to a date that is more respectful towards indigenous Australians if we are ever to move towards recognising their culture and tradition, past and present.

Both indigenous and non-indigenous Australian’s feel that they cannot celebrate Australia Day, because the date marks the commencement of a long history of dispossession and trauma for both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Visualize how you would feel if you and your family welcomed

However, it is clear that this rich and diverse culture has been destroyed and lost through generations due to the assimilation, separation and dispossession of indigenous men, women and children, that all began due to this one day that we chose to celebrate. The reality is that many Indigenous Australians are still wrestling with defining their identity when so much of their traditional culture has been lost, and with this comes their inability to form a relationship with the majority of Australian culture, white Australia’s culture. Due to this loss and divide between cultures we often forget the importance of Indigenous Australia and the traditions and years of culture that have been